The Dutch asset manager said the new fund is aimed at the “balanced investor who wants to invest responsibly without financial compromise”.

NN Investment Partners has launched the NN (L) Patrimonial Balanced European Sustainable fund with €100 million ($104 million) in assets under management.

The fund, part of the Luxembourg-domiciled NN (L) Patrimonial (SICAV), invests in a diversified portfolio of European equity and euro-denominated fixed income instruments.

It will take an exclusionary approach and depending on the asset class, a specific inclusion approach will be used to select the “best ideas”, using both environmental, social and governance (ESG) and financial criteria. 

The strategy will be managed based on a balanced risk profile: 50 per cent equity and 50 per cent bonds, with a bandwidth of +10 per cent. The benchmark of the fund is 50 per cent MSCI Europe (net) plus 50 per cent Barclays Euro Aggregate. 

“Avoiding controversial names and companies that show improving ESG scores are proven to show better investment returns. Therefore, we believe that integrating ESG criteria in this fund offers an additional source of return,” said Siu Kee Chan, the firm’s senior portfolio manager, multi-asset.

Several of the fund’s share classes are currently registered in Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece Spain, France, Sweden, Slovakia and Chile.